A number of Fanatec GT Europe teams announced their 2024 driver line-ups ahead of this week's official Prologue, which is currently underway at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Garage 59 confirmed its crew on Tuesday morning, just as the green flag flew to kick off the two-day pre-season test. The McLaren squad has increased its commitment for the coming campaign with two cars in Sprint and three in Endurance.
The #159 will once again compete in the Pro class, albeit with only Benji Goethe continuing from last term. He will be joined by Tom Gamble for the full 10-event championship, with Dean MacDonald entered as the third driver at Endurance rounds. MacDonald helped Garage 59 to win the Sprint Pro-Am title in 2022 (below), while McLaren factory driver Gamble previously drove for the team in the Asian Le Mans Series.
The #188 McLaren (pictured below in 2023) will also continue its full-season programme. Louis Prette and Miguel Ramos are unchanged from last term and will contest both Sprint and Endurance, with rising star Adam Smalley joining them at long-distance rounds. The 23-year-old graduates to international competition after winning last season's Porsche Carrera Cup GB title.
A new addition for 2024 is the #158 McLaren, which will also contest the Endurance Cup in the Bronze class. Nicolai Kjærgaard moves across from the Pro car to lead the line; he will be joined by Lewis Proctor, who competed with Team WRT last season, and experienced British GT campaigner Mark Samson.
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It was confirmed last week that Grasser Racing will return to the Pro class for the first time since 2019, fielding a Lamborghini for the highly experienced crew of Christian Engelhart, Franck Perera and Marco Mapelli.
Engelhart returns to the team and manufacturer with which he won the 2017 Endurance Cup and overall titles following four seasons at the wheel of Porsche machinery. Perera and Mapelli are also familiar faces in the Grasser garage: both drove for the team at the 2018 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa and have since represented the Austrian outfit in a variety of other series.
Grasser has also revealed the crew for its #19 Lamborghini, which will defend the Endurance Silver class title that it won last term with with an entirely new line-up of Mateo Llarena, Hugo Cook and Haytham Qarajouli. All three are series newcomers and, appropriately enough, have an average age of 19.
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Sky Tempesta Racing also announced its line-up for 2024 last week. The British squad has made a habit of changing brands since joining Fanatec GT Europe in 2019, competing with Ferrari (2019-2021) Mercedes-AMG (2022) and McLaren (2023) before returning to the Maranello marque this year.
While the machinery has changed, the team has retained a steady driver line-up of Chris Froggatt, Jon Hui and Eddie Cheever III, all of whom return this season. Sky Tempesta will contest the full 10-round championship in the Bronze Cup class, looking to add to the Endurance title it captured last term.
A host of other teams have announced plans in the past week. They include Imperiale Racing, which confirmed a Sprint Cup programme; Iron Lynx, which revealed its plans for the Endurance Cup; and Winward Racing, which will run a full-season Pro car alongside a Silver crew in Endurance. All of the latest team and driver news can be found on the Fanatec GT Europe website and social media channels.